Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will NeedFixes

Inside the Navy

Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will Need Fixes

March 24, 2009 --

Naval Air Systems Command this week ordered the temporary grounding of
84 Navy and Air Force V-22 Osprey tiltrotors after an inspection of
one of 12 V-22s in Iraq revealed that loose bolts were causing damage
to components in the aircraft's rotor assembly, according to a NAVAIR
spokesman.
The March 22 grounding was a “precautionary measure” after all four
bolts in the rotor assembly were found loose in one of the V-22s in
Iraq on March 21, said the spokesman, Mike Welding. Since then, 52
aircraft have cleared their inspections, although four aircraft in
Iraq required repairs, he said.
“Loose bolts were discovered while the aircraft was on the ground and
did not cause an in-flight incident,” Welding told Inside the Navy.
“The grounding bulletin spells out new inspection procedures on
certain components in the prop rotor assembly. All aircraft that
passed the inspection will immediately return to normal flight status.
Any aircraft found with loose bolts will receive replacement parts and
be returned to flight.”
The grounding affected 84 aircraft -- 73 Marine Corps MV-22s and 11
Air Force CV-22s. At press time, 43 MV-22s and nine CV-22s had been
cleared, although Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman
Capt. Laura Ropelis said the Air Force expected that all 11 CV-22s
would be cleared by the end of today without any problems.
All four of the aircraft that did not pass inspection were among the
12 currently serving in Iraq. Welding declined to speculate on a
cause, saying the investigation is ongoing.
Two of those aircraft have been repaired and cleared, including the
initial aircraft. Welding was unsure of the status of the other two.
Eleven of the 12 aircraft had been inspected at press time.
The inspection takes about two hours, and the fix takes about two
days, Welding said.
The problem came to light when pilots assigned to the squadron noted
“some unusual noises and vibrations when shutting down their aircraft
following a routine flight,” Welding said.
“Subsequently, the problem was discovered by squadron mechanics when
they detected the cause of the noise and vibration,” he added.
“Squadron mechanics had discovered four bolts had separated from the
stationary swash plate trunnion,” causing some damage to nearby
components.
Although the other aircraft had some loose bolts, the problem was not
as severe, Welding said.
The grounding was done mainly for safety reasons as damage was very
minor, according to Welding. Although he said it would be difficult to
speculate exactly what would have happened if the problem had worsened
significantly, control of the rotor could have been compromised.
With the new precautions in place, there is no risk of that now,
Welding said.
“We believe that is not going to happen, especially with the new
enhanced procedures we will have in place,” he said. “[The procedures]
will certainly provide us with enough early detection.”

On Mar 25, 9:21*am, mike wrote:
Inside the Navy

Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will Need Fixes

March 24, 2009 --

Naval Air Systems Command this week ordered the temporary grounding of
84 Navy and Air Force V-22 Osprey tiltrotors after an inspection of
one of 12 V-22s in Iraq revealed that loose bolts were causing damage
to components in the aircraft's rotor assembly, according to a NAVAIR
spokesman.
The March 22 grounding was a “precautionary measure” after all four
bolts in the rotor assembly were found loose in one of the V-22s in
Iraq on March 21, said the spokesman, Mike Welding. Since then, 52
aircraft have cleared their inspections, although four aircraft in
Iraq required repairs, he said.
“Loose bolts were discovered while the aircraft was on the ground and
did not cause an in-flight incident,” Welding told Inside the Navy.
“The grounding bulletin spells out new inspection procedures on
certain components in the prop rotor assembly. All aircraft that
passed the inspection will immediately return to normal flight status.
Any aircraft found with loose bolts will receive replacement parts and
be returned to flight.”
The grounding affected 84 aircraft -- 73 Marine Corps MV-22s and 11
Air Force CV-22s. At press time, 43 MV-22s and nine CV-22s had been
cleared, although Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman
Capt. Laura Ropelis said the Air Force expected that all 11 CV-22s
would be cleared by the end of today without any problems.
All four of the aircraft that did not pass inspection were among the
12 currently serving in Iraq. Welding declined to speculate on a
cause, saying the investigation is ongoing.
Two of those aircraft have been repaired and cleared, including the
initial aircraft. Welding was unsure of the status of the other two.
Eleven of the 12 aircraft had been inspected at press time.
The inspection takes about two hours, and the fix takes about two
days, Welding said.
The problem came to light when pilots assigned to the squadron noted
“some unusual noises and vibrations when shutting down their aircraft
following a routine flight,” Welding said.
“Subsequently, the problem was discovered by squadron mechanics when
they detected the cause of the noise and vibration,” he added.
“Squadron mechanics had discovered four bolts had separated from the
stationary swash plate trunnion,” causing some damage to nearby
components.
Although the other aircraft had some loose bolts, the problem was not
as severe, Welding said.
The grounding was done mainly for safety reasons as damage was very
minor, according to Welding. Although he said it would be difficult to
speculate exactly what would have happened if the problem had worsened
significantly, control of the rotor could have been compromised.
With the new precautions in place, there is no risk of that now,
Welding said.
“We believe that is not going to happen, especially with the new
enhanced procedures we will have in place,” he said. “[The procedures]
will certainly provide us with enough early detection.”

"Although he said it would be difficult to speculate exactly what
would have happened if the problem had worsened significantly,
control of the rotor could have been compromised. With the new
precautions in place, there is no risk of that now,"

Compromising control of the rotor sounds like a fatal crash to me. I
have seen military blogs that say that all of the production must be
finished and accepted before the first major accident can occur.
Wishing or making sure?

"Jack Linthicum" wrote in message
...

Compromising control of the rotor sounds like a fatal crash to me. I
have seen military blogs that say that all of the production must be
finished and accepted before the first major accident can occur.
Wishing or making sure?

This is the type of stuff that happens with any new aircraft. We "learn
by doing". With something as complex and as "different" as the Osprey, we
will probably see a significant list of these issues. And yes, some of them
will probably cause accidents before the learning is all over.

Vaughn

mike wrote:

Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will Need Fixes

Copying a WWII saying:

Loose Bolts Crash Choppers!

Dennis

"Dennis" wrote in message
.4...
mike wrote:

Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will Need Fixes

Copying a WWII saying:

Loose Bolts Crash Choppers!

Similar things are happening with recently introduced helicopters. The crash
of the Cougar Helicopters flight off Newfoundland has prompted the FAA to
issue an airworthiness directive to replace titanium bolts with steel on one
of the gearboxes, and the Cormorant SAR birds have a significant problem with
their tails. This reportedly has been successfully re-engineered for the all
singing, all dancing, slicing, dicing version EH is trying to flog as the next
presidential transport, but the cost to sort out the Cormorants has caused
some chest pains among the air staff.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/dow...714/story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundlan...d-replace.html
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

Andrew Chaplin wrote:
"Dennis" wrote in message
.4...
mike wrote:

Loose Bolts Ground V-22 Ospreys; Four Aircraft in Iraq Will Need Fixes
Copying a WWII saying:

Loose Bolts Crash Choppers!

Similar things are happening with recently introduced helicopters. The crash
of the Cougar Helicopters flight off Newfoundland has prompted the FAA to
issue an airworthiness directive to replace titanium bolts with steel on one
of the gearboxes, and the Cormorant SAR birds have a significant problem with
their tails. This reportedly has been successfully re-engineered for the all
singing, all dancing, slicing, dicing version EH is trying to flog as the next
presidential transport, but the cost to sort out the Cormorants has caused
some chest pains among the air staff.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/dow...714/story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundlan...d-replace.html

As far as the S-92s go, apparently fretting and galling of the bolts is
suspected with the Cougar crash as well as in another incident; hence
the switch to steel from titanium.

AHS